Patient Stories
GERD Patient Finds Relief and a Team That Listens
Erin Bowlus played semi-professional flag football for two years with a broken hip. The lighting-intense pain flashing through her leg? She just sucked it up. So, when started to experience crushing chest pain in 2016, she didn’t believe her first set of doctors’ suggestion that she was suffering from anxiety. Erin is tough. She can … Read More
After 10 Years with GERD, Patient Says, ‘I Received the Best Results’
Julie Engquist ties her shoes. She sleeps with just one pillow. She walks her dog. If these things don’t sound groundbreaking, you’ve likely never contended with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). But Julie had. For 10 years. “The pain and discomfort were overwhelming,” she said. “There were a few times where I thought I was having … Read More
Bariatric Surgery Patient Loses 91 Pounds and Gains New Lease on Life
Tamra Rose says she was overweight most of her adult life. But when her son turned a year and a half, and the scale tipped passed her delivery weight, Tamra had enough. She works at Hoag and had learned from a colleague that the hospital was opening a Bariatric Surgery Weight Loss Program. She had … Read More
After a Lifelong Search, Gastroparesis Patient Finds Hope
Within minutes of their first meeting, Caitlin Houghton, M.D., said the words that Brittney Pisanelli, 33, had been hoping to hear for most of her life: “You have options.” “I started crying in her office,” Brittney said. “I had never been told that before. Someone wanted to help me. Someone wanted to help me function … Read More
Nurse Becomes First Patient of Hoag’s Bariatric Surgery Weight Loss Program
The weight gain happened slowly, following a back injury that benched the soccer-loving Lori Zaccari at the age of 31. Then health issues started to creep in – rising cholesterol levels and blood pressure, borderline diabetes. By the time Lori Zaccari was 44, her appearance and health had undergone a troubling transformation. She stopped posing … Read More
GERD Took Its Toll for 30 Years. An Advanced Procedure Gives Patient a New Start.
Frederick Tuerck knew he suffered from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a condition that causes acid reflux to backwash from the stomach, eroding the lining of the esophagus. Over time, this led to frequent pain traveling from his chest to his spine, leaving him increasingly frustrated. Over the course of 30 years, as he served his … Read More
Investment in Crohn’s Disease Gives Patient Comfort and Hope
“I feel like I have the best on my team,” Jason said. “I feel confident in her and in Hoag. Having Dr. Hwang and Dr. Yu, signals to me that Hoag is investing in the care of people in Orange County who have Crohn’s. It’s an opportunity for Hoag to help a lot of people.”